Community Conservation committee for MBREMP- Warden In Charge
By Redfred Ngowo

The Mnazi Bay Ruvuma River Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP) has launched Community Conservation committees as a measure to involve stakeholders in conservation and sustainable utilisation of mamrine resources for the present and future generation.

The Warden In charge of MBREMP Mr, Milali Machumu told members of the Board of Trustee of Marine Park and Reserve recently when they visited the park to inspect various activities undertaken.The committees are involved in conservation activities. 

He said that the conservation committees were started in all villages in the buffer areas of the park to advise on the running of the park and to take active part in conservation activities through enforcement patrols and day to day running of the activities of the park. 

Mr Machumu said that the park was entrenched in four area namely conservation, participatory involvement in mamrine resource protection by involving all stakeholders in all all villages in the buffer of the park through contribution of ideas, discussion and decision making in all affairs conserning conservation. The sole objective is to win the hearts and minds of the stakeholders and get their support when preparing the General Management Plan which will incorporate interests of all stakeholders. 

The other area was to build a viable working environment which will be conducive to both workers and stakeholders to undertake conservation activities with ease. Also a strategy would be worked out to provide alternative source of livelihood for villagers to cut their over dependence on the sea and inculcate into them, the importance of sustainable utilisation of marine resources, he said. 

Mr Macahumu told the Board members that a number of achievements have been bagged, which include the zoning of the park into use zones and the completion of various studies which helped the preparation of the General management Plan of the park. 

He said although various studies have indicated the abundance of resources, they nevertheless showed increased dependence of stakeholders on marine resources coupled with unsustainable use.The studies also revealed that a good number of villagers who lived within the marine park were poor and dependent on seasonal unreliable and at time inaccessible economic activities due to poor technology and financial back-up.